Free Floating Discs

[Buddynq]

Bloody hell - I hav'nt got time to work now. All these little maintenance/cleaning tips I'm finding out are unreal.

[KiwiCol]

Goodness upon you buddy!
She's a great place the org!

[grog]

org. tips n a 6 pack= great afternoon. adjust, tighten, check every nut n bolt. then just ride it. as far as you want. something harley riders dream about. 

[Andre]

Bloody hell - I hav'nt got time to work now. All these little maintenance/cleaning tips I'm finding out are unreal.

I hear you. Fortunately for me and my 14 I am retired so I have ample time to get her in A1 condition and, when that is achieved, keep her well maintained. Honestly, I would not be able to do all this if I was still working for a living.

After replacing my front discs, some of the washers on the rear side of the bobbins were gone and the remaining washers were paper-thin. I now can't do the cleaning procedure as outlined here anymore as I have EBCs VEE discs which have SD-bobbins. S stands for square - no turning anymore. Have to ensure an ample store of brake cleaner now.

I wonder now how much the turning of the bobbins will cause the washers to wear prematurely. There was plenty of thickness of the discs themselves left for many Ks.

[Andre]

An explanation (rather lengthy) why you don't need to clean the bobbins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOA5cOrvwRw

[Mister Fishfinger]

"It's all bollocks, don't bother".

Excellent. That is exactly the kind of maintenance advice I can follow.

[Hooli]

An explanation (rather lengthy) why you don't need to clean the bobbins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOA5cOrvwRw

Which is great until you need too, cleaning them has cured a vibration on mine a few times. Not that they need doing very often at all really.

[seth]

Only problem I see with it is if you don't clean them brake dust/road grime and salt can build up stopping them from being able to move when they need to due to heat .
I'm with @Hooli I give mine a good clean especially in the winter .
Very rare I would put a bolt through and spin them though.

[Mister Fishfinger]

I've got wobbly discs at the moment, which I need to do something about at some stage.

I tried the rotating bobbin trick, didn't make any difference for me.

[froudy]

Now that I've rebuilt my front calipers with new seals the discs are clonking again...
Time to get the nuts and bolts out to free the bobbins up.

When you ride a bike all year round maintenance is never ending!

[MarkN]

I spoke to the chap who services my bikes about cleaning bobbins as described by Delboy. He said to me "Leave them the fuck alone". Which I think is what Mat says on "The Workshop" video. So that is what I do 

[Andre]

I don't agree with leaving the standard bobbins alone. This is what EBC says about the standard circular bobbins:

Under the heat of braking a rotor blade expands or shrinks in both its diameter and band width causing the inside of the rotor blade to shrink radially inwards towards the hub. With circular buttons, as the rotor shrinks, it will contact the inner button and cause the rotor to tighten and either be distorted sideways causing either brake pulsation or spongy brakes.

In my opinion accumulated dirt has the same effect. I wouldn't use a power tool to spin them bobbins - only gentle with spanners. Probably can save the bolts/spanners if you use brake cleaner frequently.

I have EBC VEE discs that use the "SD-System Square Drive". Don't have the the above problems and can't be rotated. They just get a bit of brake cleaner every now and then.

[froudy]

Mine are a pain to do as the largest bolt I can through the bobbin hole is an M5. It would be so much easier if I could use an M8 with big washers.
It seems that some Suzuki discs use different sizes bobbins.

[T 24]

I used an battery powered drill with easy-outs and just set drill to slow and sprayed brake cleaner works a treat.

Why dont't you make it easy?

[Andre]

Because the tension-washers on the back side wear thin when you spin the bobbins. If they are gone you certainly have a clunky disc.